Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief steps into ‘unorthodox’ duties for Ty Gibbs

NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin's former crew chief and Joe Gibbs Racing competition director, Chris Gabehart, recently stepped into the pit box for Ty Gibbs. During the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway held on Sunday, June 29, 2025, Gabehart took up the role of strategist for Gibbs to help him secure his playoff berth.

The #54 Toyota Camry XSE driver had a decent mid-pack start from P16 at the 400.4-mile race. He had a best time of 31.30 seconds and a top speed of 177.14 mph and was 0.32 seconds behind the pole-sitter, Team Penske driver Joey Logano. However, Gibbs fell to P26 in stage one but paved his way to P11 in stage two and finished behind Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing's Brad Keselowski.

Continuing in the final stage of the race, Ty Gibbs fell three spots and finished the 260-lap race in P14. Unlike his teammates, Gibbs has yet to secure a playoff spot. Reflecting on the same, Chris Gabehart, who clinched over 20 Cup Series triumphs with Denny Hamlin, told NBC Sports:

“Let’s call it unorthodox for this garage. But the reality is that once (Joe Gibbs Racing) got three cars in the playoffs, when you look at it simply, we’ve got one left we’re trying to get in.”

The closest Ty Gibbs came to a win was at Bristol Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway, where he secured a spot inside the top five drivers, ending the race in P3. His teammates, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin, secured their spots in the playoffs, clinching multiple wins this year.

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"Wish we could have got one": Ty Gibbs got candid about the Michigan International Speedway race while Denny Hamlin took home the victory

Despite securing a P3 finish at the Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs was left frustrated. After beginning the race from inside the top ten drivers, Gibbs struggled in the initial stage of the race but improved throughout the race.

His fuel strategy held him off from pushing for the lead, and he had to give up to his teammate Denny Hamlin, who secured his third win of the season.

"Wish we could have got one," Gibbs said during his post-race interview. "That was not the option with the fuel spot from where we were in. Just very unfortunate. It's just unfortunate, because I feel like we had the capability to go do it. I feel like we showed we were fast enough to go do it. It's definitely frustrating, but it's just part of it sometimes."

"I think a win is more important than third, it's good to have a good finish, for sure. Good to have a good day, a good comeback. We started off just very horrible. Glad we could come back and got better. Thanks to my team for sticking behind me," he added.

With 342 points to his credit, Ty Gibbs ranks 24th in the Cup Series points table. Additionally, he has secured three top-ten finishes and two top-five finishes in 18 starts this season.